Photos from recent production of Naked by Luigi Pirandello

Drama Productions at Saint Rose

In addition to our drama and acting courses, there are several drama productions on campus each academic year. Dr. Kenneth Krauss, Drama Director and Associate Professor of English, directs productions ranging from his own translation of Seneca's Medea to never-before-staged plays written by English M.A. students. Recent shows have included Cementville by Jane Martin and the musical Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. Our small studio theatre, located in a former carriage house behind 1000 Madison Avenue, is always packed for these productions. Students from all majors are welcome to audition or work backstage.

Coming for Fall 2012: Flora the Red Menace

This little-known musical was the first Broadway collaboration of the team of John Kander and Fred Ebb (who went on to write to write Cabaret, Chicago, and Kiss of the Spider Woman—just to name a few!). Although it ran less than three months when it opened in 1965, the show featured a high-school girl whose talent earned her the best performance in a musical Tony award—Liza Minelli. With a great score and a newly revised book, this show offers a comic look back on the era of the Great Depression, its ups, its downs, its politics, and its morals.Auditions for the Kander & Ebb MusicalFlora the Red MenaceMon, Sept. 10, Tues., Sept 11, and Wed., Sept 12 @ 5 pmWe are looking for actors, singers, and dancers and people to work tech, house, and backstage. Please come to one of the audition sessions and fill out a schedule.

Naked: A Rarely Performed Drama by Luigi Pirandello (Spring 2012)

Written around the same time the Nobel-prize-winning dramatist produced Six Characters in Search of an Author and Enrico Quatro, Naked centers on a young woman who, while working as a governess, unwittingly contributed to the death of the child for whom she was caring. After attempting suicide, an act covered in all the newspapers, she is taken in by a successful Roman novelist, eager to give her a new start. Yet he and the other three men who come back to see her are not really interested in who she really is but only in who they think she is. Pirandello’s ironic exploration of identity questions the possibility of a genuine self and asks audiences to contrast what they think of as real life with the artificiality of the theatre.The talented cast includes:Kerry McNamera as Erselia DreiChristopher Suprenant as Ludovico NotaErica Woodin as Signora HonoriaChristopher Cavender as Alfredo CantavalleZach Williams as Franco LaspigaAdrianne Purtell as EmmaKevin Escudero as Consul Grotti

Cementville: Drama and Wrestling Unite (Fall 2011)

This past semester our drama club staged a production of Cementville, a play by Jane Martin. The play was performed from November 17th to the 20th and it ran for a total of five performances. Because Martin is a playwright with a mysterious history (no one quite knows who she is, though her plays are critically acclaimed), Dr. Kenneth Krauss, director, had a difficult decision to make when choosing the play. In the end, Dr. Krauss chose the play that would allow him the most freedom to cast female roles, something extremely important due to the student demographic of the Saint Rose community.

About the play, Dr. Krauss says that, “It’s a dark comedy about women wrestlers trying to make it. The play dramatizes their lives, the shows they perform, and the conditions they have to put up with.” The play centers on a group of female wrestlers in their locker room in Tennessee as they try to come to an agreement about the order of their matches for the night. While that situation might not sound remarkable at first, the tensions between the characters makes it a setting ripe for drama, and the tension mounts between the women, their manager, and other assorted characters.

Playing the role of Angelessa (a former Olympic shot putter), Celia Altidor says of her character, “Her glory days are over and now she tours with five others doing a wrestling bit.” The process of putting together a show is frequently rewarding and this was no different, Altidor says, “The chemistry among the cast is awesome. The changes since the first few rehearsals are amazing.” Chris Lovell, a freshman who played the role of Dwayne Pardee, an autograph hound that starts off the play, says that, “I would have to argue that college theater has been a memorable experience.”

Spring 2011: Two One Acts by Saint Rose Graduate Students

On April 19, at 7:00 pm in the Campus Theatre, staged readings of one-act plays by Anne Dantz and Jennifer Austin will be performed. "Figment," by Anne Dantz depicts the world of an upstate farmer who is driven mad by a cow who may or may not be a figment of his imagination. Jennifer Austin's "Bitter Brunch" is set on Mother's Day and involves a bizarre family reunion. Paul Lamar, adjunct instructor at Saint Rose, will direct the readings. This premiere performance of work by new playwrights is free and open to the public. The Campus Theatre is at 996A Madison Avenue (behind 1000 Madison Avenue).

"Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris" in Fall 2010

On November 18, 19, and 20 at 7 pm and on November 20 and 21 at 2 pm, Director Kenneth Krauss and a talented group of actors presented Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris in the Campus Theatre at 996A Madison Avenue, behind 1000 Madison Ave.

A revue featuring songs by Belgian-born singer-songwriter Jacques Brel, this show ran four years at off-Broadway’s Village Gate Theatre and went on to become a feature film. The ballads, many of which are world famous, are presented against the background of “The City of Lights,” showcasing the skilled voices of the young actor-singers and the beauty of the French capital.

"The Three Penny Opera" in Spring 2010

Set in Victorian London, this classic musical play combines a book and lyrics by Bertolt Brecht and music by Kurt Weill to tell the story of Macheath (aka “Mack the Knife”). We follow the thieving Mackie through the depths of Soho and witness how his crimes, lies, and womanizing lead to his arrest. Only the kind of miracle that could come at the end of a musical can save his life and bring a happy conclusion to what should be a sorrowful end. Originally produced in Berlin in 1928, the score offers hilarious parodies of operatic fare and also some of the most wonderful songs ever written.

The play will be performed at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 22, Friday, April 23, and Saturday, April 24. There will also be two afternoon performances on Saturday, April 24, and Sunday, April 25, at 2:00 p.m. in the Campus Theatre behind 1000 Madison Avenue.

“CLOUD NINE”: RIOTOUS FALL 2009 PRODUCTION

In November 2009, The College of Saint Rose Drama Program presented "Cloud Nine,” British playwright Caryl Churchill’s hilarious send up of colonialism, racism, sexism and how things just ain’t the way they used to be.

This production of “Cloud Nine” was directed by Dr. Kenneth Krauss, director of the Saint Rose drama program. Celia Altidor of Wyandanch, Suffolk County, is the stage manager, with original music composed by Nathan Perry, a student at Albany Law School, stage and lighting design by Saint Rose alumnus John Hunter and set design by Mitchell Biernacki.

Cast for "Cloud Nine"

The talented cast, many of whom play more than one character, includes:Jaired Crofute as Clive/Edward.Myles Clendenin as Harry/Cathy.Jason Kibby as Joshua/Martin.Julia Wichershein as Mrs. Saunders/LinMaggie McCarthy as Edward/Victoria.Christina Mevec as Ellen/Betty.Meagan Juntunen as Maude.Christopher Cavender, a University at Albany student, as Betty/Gerry.

Posters from Recent Productions

This little-known musical was the first Broadway collaboration of the team of John Kander and Fred Ebb (who went on to write to write Cabaret, Chicago, and Kiss of the Spider Woman—just to name a few!). Although it ran less than three months when it opened in 1965, the show featured a high-school girl whose talent earned her the best performance in a musical Tony award—Liza Minelli. With a great score and a newly revised book, this show offers a comic look back on the era of the Great Depression, its ups, its downs, its politics, and its morals. Auditions for the Kander & Ebb Musical&#xa0;Flora the Red Menace, Sept. 10, Tues., Sept 11, and Wed., Sept 12 @ 5 pm. We are looking for actors, singers, and dancers and people to work tech, house, and backstage. Please come to one of the audition sessions and fill out a schedule.